Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

Everyone needs a best friend. It doesn't really matter who that friend is, just so long as they're kind, loyal, listen, make you laugh and you have each others backs, because that's what friends do. I am really lucky to have some amazing friends. People who have got me through the toughest of times, people who are always there for me and who I hope, I am always there for too. They are everything friends should be, even though I've never met many of them. They are my Tweeps. A community of friends on Twitter. Some are other bloggers, others are authors, others are just fabulous people who like to socialise with like-minded folk!

As 'real-life' friends go, I have few and that suits me just fine. Quality rather than quantity; and those I do have are the best of the best. Which given the way things are going at the moment is a flipping good thing. Yes, a true friend is worth their weight in gold and one or two of mine really have been absolute diamonds this past week.

Minecraft Mum

Yep, you read that right the first time. Yes I know you had to read it twice! Moi? Minecrafting? Mais oui! Don't ask why I just switched to French there, I have no idea either. To be quite honest with you, I have no flipping idea what I'm doing at the moment. This morning has seen me going up and down the stairs like a yo-yo retrieving things I've left downstairs in the kitchen, only to return to the first floor living room to realise I've not retrieved what I went for in the first place. It took me three trips just to retrieve my tea and then my glasses, the latter of which I went to fetch on my first trip! So, should I slip into a petit peu of French bear with, I've clearly lost my mind! Oh and before I forget, on yet another different subject (because yes, I am aware, I have indeed gone off on a tangent, again) I have also gone up and down the stairs, making up and filling a couple more packing boxes, so I have managed to be productive in my confused state.

However, having digressed so far, I feel it's time we got back to the point, for I am now a Minecrafter!

Minecraft - My House and My Dog, Snowy

A (Not So) Tall Story

Ah, the weekend! The time when you spend time with your family, enjoy one another's company and pretend you are not some crazy, dysfunctional group of people at all! To be honest, we stopped doing that last bit some time ago. Getting the kids out with me is enough of a win, I really can't be doing with pretending to be all 'Little House on the Prairie,' too, which is why we probably leave a crazy trail of destruction behind us.

Anyway, Sunday morning saw me manage to get my youngest out of the house. Not going to lie, I was so shocked she agreed, that I wondered if it was national news worthy (anyone with teenagers will know how monumental this is). So off we popped to a small local shopping centre, complete with pharmacy, so that the other half could get his man flu medicine (he really was not a well boy). Whilst the boy was raiding Boots with his snot and sneezes, Miss. L and I had a good old look round The Body Shop. If I had no idea what to get for her upcoming birthday before, I now have more ideas than I really need, there was a whole lot of stuff in there she wanted. Combine that with her obsession with food storage containers in TK Maxx and we're sorted (no I'm not going to buy her Tupperware - even I'm not that crap a mum).

The Dog Ate my Homework

Hands up if you have ever, actually used that classic excuse, 'Sorry Miss, the dog ate my homework.' I don't think I did, but it would have been pretty plausible given our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Rupert, was an absolute little bugger for eating anything and everything he shouldn't. My mum still has pens with Rupert teeth marks (though quite why, I do not know; who keeps pens that long, and I'm talking 30+ years here). Not that I was particularly great at doing my homework, unless it was art or flute practise. Quite how I have managed to raise at least one daughter who is always studying and doing homework, I am not sure, but thank goodness I have; there really is nothing worse than getting to Sunday and having to do everything in a panic!

The Mess

Let me make it very clear from the offset, I am not a super house proud, everything in it's place, kind of a girl. As a general rule, my house is quite tidy, but not in a 'no one' lives here 'show home' kind of  way. Good grief, I have two teenage daughters, an orange dog and a black and white cat, who insists on fluffing all over my cream carpets, seconds after I have vacuumed them (I love the cat, but I do not love bits of the cat randomly scattered on freshly vacuumed carpet). I don't like mess! I love a cupboard and drawers. They're great for stashing crap in and giving the illusion that you are a super organised woman who has it all together; just don't open my cupboards or drawers! Please!

That said, I am certainly not, what one might call a hoarder. I go through said cupboards and drawers at least once a year, sometimes twice, and get rid of anything that is redundant. There really is only so much one can fit into a home before it bursts at the seams. And might I add, my loft is empty and my garage is pretty much empty, apart form a handful of things which are earmarked for the tip, once the fiance is free to come down with his trailer. To clarify, I don't like mess and at the moment, that is exactly what my home is, a mess!

Forget Me Not

OK, the title may be a little misleading, so if you're expecting to read a piece on horticulture and the delicate, but beautiful, little blue flower, Forget Me Not, or to use it's Latin name (I've done my homework here) myosotis sylvatica, you will likely be somewhat disappointed. However, I do aim to please, so let me share with you some fun facts which I have gleaned from my flora and fauna research (the rest of you, bear with me here and/ or prepared to be blown away by my channelling of my inner Charlie Dimmock - minus the bust, she has far more 'bustage' going on than myself).

Now, back to the humble Forget Me Not. Not only is it pretty, but my reading has shown that it flowers in spring, will pretty much grow anywhere, in any kind of soil and it doesn't care if it's in full or partial sun, and the best part, it doesn't need pruning! I'm thinking this could be a plant for me, because I am not known for my gardening expertise, so the easier and less fussy the plant the better! And, it's the state flower of Alaska,  I bet you didn't know that; unless you're Alaskan, or know all your US state flowers, or you're just one of those really clever people.

My Revenge

Hello, it's me, Max. Did you forget me? I been away a long time. I tried really hard to get to Mummy's laptop thingy, but her was on it ALL the time doing something called 'work.' It not good enough, little orange me needs to talk to all you lovely peoples, not just the peoples I live with. Tween me and you, me get a bit bored with them sometimes, even Sparkle cat is a girl. It not easy living with girls. It also not good, girls want you to smell like a girl. Little me spends a long time getting nice and scruffy and smelly, just the way I like to be and then, they take me to the place of bubbles and brushes and lots of other nasty clean stuffs. When me leaves I look like this...

About Calories

Calories! The bane of most over 30's lives. They're the reason we watch what we eat and why some people choose to reduce themselves to a sweaty, Lycra clad mess, for an annual small fortune at a local gym. Not that I'm judging, if that's what floats your boat, then you go for it; I'd rather dress in a more flattering manner and trudge several thousand steps a day, come rain or shine (more shine) with our little orange doggy, but again, that's not everyone's cup of tea, especially when you factor in picking up poo. Anyway, back to the point, calories, those pesky things that stop us from even having one dessert, let alone the two we had back in our teens and twenties.